The Fine Line
by It's-A-Passion
Summary: Ada Feder couldn't wait for summer. She had it all planned; hours at the beach, road trips, waterpark days. What she hadn't factored in was the new kid. Blonde, buffed, with a bit of a dangerous streak, and an annoying habit of calling her 'princess'. And Ada discovers that there really is only a very fine line between love and hate. BradenOC.
1. Morning Shenanigans

**Hey, guys. I just watched Grown Ups 2, and thought this would be fun. It won't be a serious piece – more for fun than anything else; a way to blow off steam from a hard day at university. I hope you'll have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!**

The Fine Line

CHAPTER ONE: Morning Shenanigans

...

Ada Feder was jolted awake by her mother yelling.

The lilac satin sheets tangled around her legs as she scrambled up and promptly fell out of her bed, landing on the shaggy, pale lavender rug that covered the hard, wooden floors. She extricated her legs, ignoring the throbbing of her knee, as she flung the door open and stumbled into the hallway in time to see a deer framing the doorway of the bathroom right at the end.

"Oh my - ," she shouted. Holy crap! There was a deer in their house! A big, _wild_ deer, with antlers and everything. Ada had never seen a deer this close. Heck, she'd never seen one in real life. Then the deer shifted and she saw her twin brother, Greg, in the shower. Naked. "Ah!" She screamed, slapping her hands over her now closed eyelids, "My eyes! My eyes! I'm blinded!"

That was something she never, ever wanted to see. _Ever_. Now she was emotionally scarred for life. When she heard clomping steps, she opened her eyes and froze as the deer galloped towards her. Becky, Ada's younger sister, popped her head out of her room.

A giant grin lifted Becky's lips as she shouted happily, "A deer!"

Keithie, her younger brother, and her dad jumped out in front of her from the other bathroom next to her bedroom, holding a basket of clothing to be washed each. They threw it at the deer, and it stopped, shook the clothing off, except for her mum's bra hanging from its antlers, and it leaped its way down the staircase.

They took off after it. One of Ada's hands gripped the balustrade, the other held onto Keithie's shoulder. There was no way she'd miss this.

"Daddy, I left the door open in case any animals wanted to come in," Becky said from behind mum. Mum's mid-back length of black hair fell in her face as she hurried down the stairs after them.

"You did, huh?" Dad asked, leading the way.

"I did!"

"Yeah, one crazy-ass one!" Keithie said.

"Oh, no, you did a good thing, sweetheart," dad said to Becky. Then, he yelled up the stairs, "Greg, I'm going to need a bat!"

"Daddy, no!" Becky yelled.

"Dad!" Ada shouted. "You can't!" While she was pretty sure her dad wasn't serious (and beside the fact that he hadn't used a bat in years, so she wondered if he even knew how), just in case he was, she wanted him to know her objection.

"No, I'm not going to hit the deer, I'm just going to…massage it's head with it for a little bit."

Ada rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile. _Now_ she knew her dad wasn't serious; he was joking around. The way he always was. That's just the way he was. It meant Ada was almost always smiling with him.

The deer ended up in the kitchen, eating Bowzer's food, after freaking the poor dog out. "He's here," dad said. He carefully crept into the kitchen. Becky stood at the corner, Keithie right behind her, Ada behind him, their mother behind her and Greg behind her, so they all could see in. The deer munched Bowzer's dog biscuits.

"Okay, he knows we're here now. Stay, stay," dad told them. They stopped moving, Ada's hands resting on Keithie's shoulders again. Despite being Greg's twin, she hadn't inherited his height as well; instead, she stood shorter than everyone but Keithie and Becky. One more year, and Keithie would shoot up past her as he really hit the flow of puberty. And Becky was one of those skinny, long-limbed kids that you just knew were going to be tall, so she'd end up shooting past Ada too.

"Holy crap," Ada mumbled, shaking her head. They used to live in L.A. and never in a million years would Ada have thought a deer would wander off the streets and into their home when they were living there. Technically, she didn't think it would happen here either, but then again, most people underestimated Becky's deep concern for all animals.

"Language," mum managed to reprimand her, despite being completely focused on the scene unfolding before them, her Hispanic accent tinting her words.

The deer's head turned to look at Becky. A shiver ran up her spine; this seemed to be turning into a horrible, scary movie, where the deer would suddenly rabidly charge them, and tear them limb from limb. Ada really didn't want that to happen.

"What's it looking at?" Dad muttered, following its gaze. "Move your doll towards me."

Becky moved Mr. Gigglesworth, her stuffed monkey and favourite, towards dad. "And back to you. Towards me. And back to you. Three times fast."

"Oh, no way," Ada shook her head disbelievingly. The deer's head followed the monkey.

"Give me that thing," dad clicked his fingers.

"Mr. Gigglesworth?" Becky said reluctantly. She, despite her young age, knew better than to hand things over to dad. Especially if she wanted that thing back.

"Don't worry. Put it in my hand," he kept his eyes on the deer. "Roxanne, take them in there. Over there."

Mum shuffled them into the lounge room, out of the way. No one sat down, too eager to see what would happen. They could hear their dad talking to the deer. "Hey, dude. Do you like this guy?"

Oh, god. Her dad just called a deer 'dude'.

"Huh? You want to play with him? Let's go play with him in the other room. Come on. Come on, man. Slowly walk with me. I said slowly." Ada saw him hurry past, holding the monkey's arm up in a beckoning movement. "I said slowly."

He started running as the deer tailed him, and Ada followed behind. Out the front door, dad threw Mr. Gigglesworth onto the lawn and the deer leaped down to it.

"Problem solved," dad said as Keith shoved slightly into Ada's arm as he came to a stop. The others piled onto the front porch as well to watch, and Becky slipped in between Ada and dad, her small hand entwining with Ada's almost absentmindedly, her eyes glued to the scene before her. The deer picked Mr. Gigglesworth up, and shook it, tearing it to shreds.

"Mr. Gigglesworth! Daddy, he's killing him!" Becky cried, close to tears.

"New problem begins," dad sighed. Ada pressed her lips together to stop smiling, wrapping an arm around Becky's tiny shoulders. "I'm sorry," he said, brushing at Becky's hair.

"Is that your bra, Mrs. Feder?"

Ada jumped, glancing to the side at the postman she didn't realize was there. He was a chubby man, and Ada didn't particularly like the way he was smiling, knowing the answer to his question. The bra was pink and lacy, transparent. Obviously mum's.

Her mum shrugged, making a face like 'what am I going to do?'. The postman held up a hand to dad for a high five.

Ada glared at the chubby man as dad said, "Easy." Her mum crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Ew," Keithie said, his face shutting down towards the postman, not appreciating the way he was staring at the bra.

"It is pretty cool," dad said, high-fiving the postman.

"Ugh!" Ada said, turning around to walk back inside. Men! She nearly walked into Greg, a towel wrapped around his waist, instantly reminding Ada of what she never, ever wanted to see, but unfortunately had. Her face scrunched up, shuddering, "Gross! Nightmares."

His cheeks reddened, and he avoided Ada's eyes, staring intently at his bare feet.

Ada pushed past him, trying to erase her memories. She wouldn't mind some amnesia right about now. They had moved to their dad's hometown in Connecticut about ten months ago, and this was the first deer to wander into their house. It was a good start to the last day of school before summer arrived.

"Hold it young lady," dad called to Ada, and she stopped, one foot hovering over the first step.

His tone was vaguely ominous, and Ada got the feeling this conversation wouldn't be about how funny it was that a deer got in the house. "Yes?"

"Where'd you get that?" he frowned, gesturing at Ada's nightgown. It was a sky blue colour, silky, and a V-cut, the material over the bust area was thick, layered lace the same shade of blue. It was almost exactly like her mum's, who had thought it would be fun to have the same pajamas, but in different colours and slightly different cuts. The pink one her mum had on was more of a shallow scoop neckline, and her other black one was a very deep V-cut, which Ada thought left more uncovered than covered. The blue one Ada had was a V neckline, the purple one she also had was a décolletage design.

Coincidently, they had all been designed by mum. Mum, formerly Roxanne Chase, now Roxanne Chase-Feder, was a fantastic fashion designer, and she'd opened a little boutique in town when they'd moved here. She was creatively talented, and Greg seemed to have gotten her inherent eye for design.

Their dad, Lenny, used to be a high-powered Hollywood talent agent, but since their move, had yet to find a new job. His old job made a lot of money, which meant they never were in want of anything. Their house was huge; seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, a pool and a massive back yard.

"Mum bought it from her shop."

"Take it back to the shop." He turned to his wife, "What'd you buy her something like that for?"

"What," her mum shrugged, indifferent. "I think it's nice."

Her dad frowned at her. "No, you know what's nice? A burlap sack."

"Oh, Lenny," her mum sighed, rolling her eyes. "You're just going to have to accept that she's growing into a young woman."

"No, I don't," he replied, shaking his head like it was obvious.

Ada tried sneaking away, but her dad caught her. "Hey. It's too lacy and we can see your boobs. I distinctly remember telling you not to get older. And not to grow boobs."

Ada glanced down, before rolling her eyes, "No, you can't." It was true; she was completely covered. The nightgown shouldn't be a big deal; there was no one to see her but her family, and the material was deliriously comfortable.

But try explaining that to her dad. He'd found a red bra of hers once and thought it was her mums. He'd been shocked and then pissed when he found out. He was just unreasonable when it came to Ada. Ada felt sorry for when it would be Becky's turn to endure his unreasonableness.

Her first date had been a nightmare. But that was a whole 'nuther story she didn't want to get into. Whenever someone asked, she just left it at 'never again'. Dating was not an experience she wanted to go through again, especially if her dad knew about it. At the current stage in her life, or more specifically her dad's current reaction to this stage of her life, it was just all together easier if she didn't date. Or, if she didn't tell him about it.

"I have to get ready for school," Ada said. "Not that this hasn't been fun. Really. Let's pick it up later."

She ran up the stairs before her dad could continue it right then.

She closed the door behind her. Her room was decorated Parisian style; opulent and luxurious, purple being the current theme colour. Paris was Ada's favourite city; she adored how it was such a romantic place, how everything about the city was connected with love; romance was everywhere. Her bedroom held the spirit of the city. A classic, elegant interior, making Ada feel almost like the queen of France.

Large, heavy, mauve with intricate gold threading curtains blocked light out from the floor to ceiling, white paned French doors that opened to a small balcony. The thick ivory blanket cover laid over lilac satin sheets, of her white AFK Josephine upholstered queen sized bed with lit a la polonaise in the same shade of ivory, and gold threading. A carved and painted cream and gold dresser and mirror sat against the wall across the room, and a vintage daybed carved white and gesso stood at the end of her bed.

A Bonaparte ottoman and champagne pale sand table rested in the corner of her room, close to a window, and the noir piere white weathered hutch holding all her books. Her AFK French computer desk was pushed against the same wall as her bed, close to the French doors. The walls were painted a collage and mixing of purples; African violet, antique fuchsia, china rose, boysenberry and bright lavender. Her wardrobe was an AFK breakfront armoire.

She'd spent a long time picking out the right furniture, and she was pleased with the end result. The song 'Almost' by Bowling for Soup played through her radio and she turned it up as she got ready for the last day of school.

A little while later, Keithie pounded on her bedroom door the way he always did each morning, giving her a timing warning, "Ten minutes."

"Thanks," she called to him. She was ready, anyway. She contemplated herself in the mirror. Having a fashion designer for a mum meant she had an armoire full of beautiful, elegant designed clothing, some specifically designed for her alone. Her mum liked playing dress up with Ada, and she just figured she never grew out of that stage from childhood.

Ada looked just like her mum, inheriting very little from her dad looks-wise; only the paleness of her skin, rather than being deeply tanned like her mum. She was only sixteen, but she had curves up the wazoo; big boobs, small waist, curved ass. She was voluptuous, like a mini Roxanne Chase-Feder, without the accent and mocha skin. And didn't her daddy hate it? Her black hair was long and thick, and wildly curling. She was petite and short, but most likely still had a couple inches to grow, if genetics were anything to go on.

She'd picked a florally summer dress in dark blues, greens and reds, with thin, string straps tied at her shoulders, holding the dress up, and a dirty cream, braided belt around her waist. The dress was made of thin material, and floated loosely around her, coming down half way to her knees.

Her mum would have paired the dress with a pain of high heels, probably the same colour as the belt. Instead, Ada dressed her own way; with a pair of black converse. She grabbed her bag and headed outside, walking down the long driveway to the road where the bus would pick them up.

Becky was riding her bike round in circles, and mum drove past, the windows rolled down as she shouted out the window, "Have the best last day of school my gorgeous children, I love you all!"

"Bye mum!" Ada called, in chorus with her siblings.

**So, what did you think? Do you like Ada?**

**I adore reviews, so I'd really appreciate it if you could just take a moment to leave me one. I'll put the replies at the end of the next chapter.**


	2. Crazies and Promises

The Fine Line

CHAPTER TWO: Crazies and Promises

…

Dad walked down to them, to wait for the bus as well.

"Last day of school," Ada did a little jig, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Yeah, last day of school, Greg. Last chance to ask out Nancy Arbuckle," Keithie grinned, from his seat on a large rock. Ada sat down with him, ready to tease her twin. It was a hobby of hers; to team up with Keithie and tease Greg, if only because Greg enjoyed teasing her just as much. Keithie was the one who would come to Ada's defense more often than not, so she found herself often siding with him.

"Yeah, you know, the girl you looooove," Ada sang cheekily, an innocent expression on her face. "The girl who doesn't know you exist."

Ada would be surprised if it wasn't true. Nancy Arbuckle was the most popular girl at school. Blonde and lithe, she had almost all the guys after her. Personally, Ada would love for Greg to be the one to get her, but considering he was barely a blimp on her radar, Ada had to admit the odds weren't looking so good.

"Nancy Arbuckle?" Dad asked, bouncing a ball on Becky's helmet as she rode around him. "You like a girl? Is that why you've been taking those long showers?"

"Eewwww!" Ada complained. This morning's unintentional sightseeing was still too vivid in her mind to joke about that. A shudder ran down her back.

"No!" Greg said quickly, defending himself, "I, I'm conditioning my hair. That's all I do in the shower. Condition my hair."

It was one of those times Ada wished she and Greg weren't so in sync with each other, because she could hear the lie in his voice, better than anyone else. It was a weird twin connection; they often understood each other better than anyone else, and sometimes they even knew what the other was thinking. "Right," Ada scoffed.

"That's not what the deer told me," dad quipped, and Ada giggled. Her dad was the funniest man she knew.

"That deer's a liar!"

"Oh-oh-oh," dad laughed.

"I _heard_," Becky piped up, "that too much conditioning can make you go blind."

Ada's jaw dropped; Becky was too young to understand this conversation.

"What! Where'd you hear that?" Dad asked, his voice going high like it usually did when he knew he was either going to lie, stop himself from laughing, or make up a story.

"Higgins," Becky smiled.

"Of course," Ada rolled her eyes. Marcus Higgins was a favourite among the Feder children; he was a funny man, and it was almost always guaranteed that he'd provide some sort of amusement when he was around. "Who else?"

"Oh, I should kill him!" Dad laughed, not surprised at all.

Keithie stood up, pointing at Greg, "He's too chicken to ask her out, dad, because she's the hottest girl in school, and Greg is fugly." He stated it matter-of-fact.

"So what he's fugly? All the guys in our family are fugly. That don't stop us from getting the hot chicks. Look at me and look at your mother; I mean, that makes no sense, only like in a Hollywood movie or something."

Ada didn't think Greg was fugly. She didn't think any of the Feder men were fugly. But maybe she was missing something.

"All the guys at school like her, dad," Greg said, a hint of dismal acceptance entering his voice, and Ada felt bad for making fun of him. She hadn't realized he liked her so much to be quite so put out by his competition.

"And you'll be the guy who ends up with her, you know why? You're going to follow my three step program. Number one: make the girl smile. Number two: tell her she has a nice smile. Number three: say she has to go out with you that night," dad finished, listing them off on his fingers.

"Why that night?"

"Yeah, why that night?" Ada asked, genuinely curious now.

"Because it gives her less time to think about how fugly you are. Because you are fugly."

"Dad!" Ada admonished. Then she paused to think, "Does that actually work?"

"It worked on your mother," he answered.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And Keithie's right, I'm too chicken to even talk to her," Greg sighed, wrapping his hands around the strap of his backpack.

"Hey!" He raised his voice. "You're a Feder! And Feder's aren't afraid of women; that's not how I'm raising you."

Ada rolled her eyes, muttering, "Please."

Keithie went on to prove her point. "By the way, dad, did you ask mum if I can play football?"

"No! I was scared! I was afraid she was going to yell at me in that accent no one understands!"

"Way to lead by example, dad," Ada said drily, standing up as well and dusting off her dress. She didn't bother pointing out that she knew what her mother said. Ada, like her siblings, was part Hispanic from their mother, which should mean they had an affinity for her language. But Ada was the only one to ask to be taught the language.

Which was a mistake, because it drew his attention, "You're not wearing that to school."

Ada didn't even glance down. By now, she was used to arguing with her dad about clothes, usually ending with her not changing at all. But she figured she'd humour him and his need to attempt to exert control over her, especially as she grew older and more independent. Ada didn't need her daddy as much anymore, and she knew it bothered him. Before, his biggest problem was making sure she was safe and happy. Now, it was keeping boys away from his little girl.

"Why not?" She sighed.

"It's about six feet too short."

"I'm not even six foot tall."

"That's beside the point," he grumped.

"I like it," Keithie shrugged.

"No one asked your opinion!" Dad shouted at him.

Bean Lamonsoff, a little blonde boy Becky's age, rode along on his bicycle, to go with Becky to school. "Dad, this is what I'm wearing. Please, give it a rest."

"Come on Becky!" Bean called. "It's eight o'clock, and school starts at eight-fifteen, which means we only have twenty five minutes to get there."

Keithie, Greg and Ada frowned at each other, confused. "Are you sure about that?" Ada asked the boy.

"Yes!"

Becky looked up at dad, "Daddy, you promise Mr. Gigglesworth will be better by bed time?"

Dad bent down and kissed her, "Will you stop worrying about him, he'll be fine, I love you. Have the best last day, okay?"

"Okay. Bye daddy, love you."

Becky and Bean took off down the road, and dad called after them, "And you read the street signs, okay? Don't let Bean… My god, riding their bikes to school. They could never do that in L.A. with all the nuts out there."

"Yeah, because thank god there's no crazy people out here," Keithie said sarcastically, just as the brakes on their bus squeaked as it pulled to a stop. The doors opened to reveal their very spaced looking bus driver, Nick.

"How you doing, Nick?"

"My wife's leaving me. After three weeks," he replied, sounding slightly constipated. Nick was, well…kind of weird. First, there was the hair; brown and large, sitting on his head, and reminding Ada of his brother's, Rob, toupee. Ada was truthfully confused as to how he managed to be married in the first place.

"Three weeks? That's not bad for you. What happened?" Dad nodded.

"She found me eating a banana." Ada frowned; how was that cause for separation? "With my butt." There it is.

"And she didn't like that?" Her dad asked.

"Yeah, she got really bummed out. But, you know, I shouldn't have done it at her mum's house."

Ada snorted a laugh, looking incredulously at Greg and Keithie.

"Yeah, you seem like you're a little extra out of it today, what's going on?" So, dad picked up on the spacey-ness too. Then again, it wasn't hard to miss.

"I'm a little medicated. I met a very reliable doctor at a concert and he floated me a couple pills just to feel better, you know?" He said. Then his voice got high, "But I don't feel better!", and then very low, "You feel worse!"

It was like there were three Nicks; the everyday one, the truthful one, and the dominant one.

Ada looked at him wide-eyed. "I'm leaning towards schizophrenia. Anyone else wanna hedge a bet?"

"I think you're right," Greg agreed.

They piled onto the bus, the first stop on the route to school, and dad took over driving the bus. Nick went to a set a couple rows back, and promptly fell asleep. It made Ada glad her dad was taking over, as embarrassing as it could end up for them. Ada took a seat towards the middle, and Greg sat behind her. Keithie sat further back.

The bus slowly filled with students. Donna Lamonsoff got on the bus not long after, wearing boots she'd obviously made herself; with flashing lights and stuck on objects. She waved at Ada in hello as she headed further back, sitting in the seat across the aisle from Keithie. Ada liked Donna, and the way she expressed herself without inhibitions, without a care as to anyone else's opinions. She was who she was, and Ada admired it.

Then they pulled up at the McKenzie's, and Andre and Charlotte got on, Charlotte sitting next to Donna, and Andre sitting next to Greg. Andre and Greg were Ada's best friends, and she turned in her seat so they could talk. Most of the time, they were an inseparable trio. Andre had brown skin, brown eyes and over the last three years he had shot up in height, so now he was slightly taller than Greg.

Greg nodded at him, "What's up, man?"

He grinned, "Mum forget their anniversary, and dad remembered."

Ada laughed, "Oh no! She's given your dad a free pass on just about anything!"

"Yeah, he's pretty psyched about it," Andre grinned. "What about you guys?"

"A deer got into the house because Becky left the door open for it," Greg rolled his eyes. It was such a Becky thing to do; she was a sweetie, and caring. Ada wouldn't be surprised if she ended up having a career in vet sciences.

"What?" Andre laughed.

"It was crazy, I swear," Ada promised. "But that's not the current issue."

"What is?" They both asked reluctantly, their voices deadpanned and somewhat anxious. They were too used to Ada to know that when she used terms along the lines of 'current issue', it usually ended with one or both of them either uncomfortable, embarrassed, or on the rare occasion, in hysterical fits of laughter.

"Greg has to man up and ask Nancy out. Finally. I don't know about you," Ada said to Andre, "but I am so sick of his pining from afar. He just about reeks of desperation, and I don't want it to rub off on me." Ada teased her twin.

Andre grinned, now that he knew he wasn't going to be the topic Ada insisted on addressing.

It was one of her traits that they said brought a degree of girly-ness to their group; needing to talk about things. Discuss the same thing from a million different angles. She was also the organized, intellectual, and more daring one. Having guys for best friends had made her bold; if she had had girl best friends, she was sure she would've ended up being extremely shy.

Greg was the sensible, responsible one; he knew what he could and could not handle, and he made decisions accordingly, often steering his more impetuous twin out of trouble through his common sense and judgment. He was also more reserved, content not to be one of the most popular boys in school.

Andre was the glue that kept Greg and Ada from butting heads or fighting often. He was like his dad; with a good sense of humour that was likely to at least get a smile, often commenting or responding to situations with a dry sort of humour. He was the honest one, often being more direct, and the active, participating in various sports. His favourite was basketball.

"She's hot," Andre shrugged, as if that was explanation enough.

Ada shook her head, "That's such a guy thing to say."

Andre and Greg looked at each other. "We _are_ guys," they said.

Greg added, "Sometimes I think you forget that."

She just rolled her eyes, ignoring their comments, "But this obsession is going to drive me insane!"

"Well, we wouldn't want that," Greg snarked.

"Fine," Ada shrugged her shoulders. "I won't help you. You just keep doing what you're doing; staring at her like a stalker. Maybe she'll actually notice for once. And if she does, she'll peg you as a freak straight up. You're right, that's _so_ much better."

Greg opened his mouth, most likely to apologise and beg for her help, but Ada shushed him, her gaze focused a couple seats back. A very large, overweight boy wearing a camoflauge jacket, and with shoulder length, surprisingly glossy hair, was picking on Donna, talking smack about her boots. His insult made no sense, but he laughed loudly and obnoxiously anyway. Keithie told him to leave her alone.

Then the large boy turned his attention to Keithie. He grabbed Keithie's shirt, pulling it up and saying threateningly, "What'd you say, Hollywood?"

Ada went to stand up, ready to defend her younger brother, but Greg pulled her back down. "Get off," she snapped at him, trying to shake free of his grip. "I've got some ass whooping to do."

His grasp didn't let up; he had, unfortunately for Ada, also grown muscles when he got taller, leaving Ada behind and meaning she was not a match for his strength anymore. "Don't," he said calmly.

"He's right," Andre agreed, and Ada glared fiercely at them. It was enough to cause them to back down; she may be small, but she could do some serious damage if she tried. And Ada was protective of Keithie, who was a non-confrontational kid. "Just… if you make a scene, you'll embarrass him. And he'll be angry with you."

"Angry because I stopped a guy punching him in the face?" Ada frowned incredulously. They nodded. "Boys are so weird. That doesn't even make sense."

But Ada stayed in her seat, turning her venomous glare onto the bully. Turned out, Ada didn't need to step in; their dad did. His voice came over the bus speakers, "Attention Kmart shoppers, uh, let's find a seat please, yes you in the camouflage jacket and the Mariah Carey hairdo, yeah, just pop a squat. Thank you."

The bully didn't take a seat, and instead gave Keithie another threat. Dad's voice came over the speakers again, "Beanbag with arms and legs, seriously, take a seat, or seats, before someone gets hurt."

And that someone would be the bully, if Ada had anything to do with it. Students laughed, and the bully backed up. Ada couldn't quite find it in herself to talk to her dad about sensitivity; she was still pissed that he'd gone after Keithie.

The school was only another two minutes away; everything was close in this town. Dad pulled up in time for Ada to see the principal, in his typical too-short shirt, open his car door only to have blue paint spill out. Ada smirked; Ben and Adam were up to their old tricks. Then again, they'd never stopped them – they'd just gotten better at not getting caught.

As kids piled off the bus, dad stood by the door, saying farewells to various students, in particular, he called the bully 'rapunzel'. Ada let Greg and Andre go in front of her so she could speak to Keithie.

"Are you okay?"

He did an odd shrug, head shake, lopsided grin thing, that utterly confused Ada. "I'm fine," he nodded then. She wasn't entirely convinced, but she let it go for now, turning back around to get off the bus.

Dad grabbed onto Greg and Andre when they reached the bottom step, holding other's up behind them, and Ada sighed. "You'll remove the eyes of any guy who looks below her neck, for me, right?" He gestured in Ada's direction.

"Sure dad," Greg said sarcastically. "Not. I don't have a death wish; she'll remove _my_ eyes if I scare off any guy interested in her."

It was partially true. She'd probably try to break something before she tried to remove his eyes.

"Well, you need to make a decision: who are you more afraid of?" Dad raised an eyebrow. Greg looked at him, then glanced back at Ada's impatient and irritated expression.

"Her," he gestured his head in Ada's direction, before getting off the bus.

"Andre, man, you'll help me out, right?" Dad tried pathetically, causing Ada to roll her eyes.

"Sorry, Mr. Feder, but Ada can do some serious damage," Andre echoed her earlier thoughts before hurrying after Greg.

Ada got off the bus, grinning at her dad. "Don't worry dad. It's not like I'm going to get pregnant," she said, like the idea was laughable.

His shoulders relaxed a little, her words making him feel a bit better about the length of her dress, which, really, was longer than some other girl's dresses, or shorts or skirts. There was nothing wrong with it. She teasingly winked at him, causing his shoulders to tense back up again, "I'll make sure the next guy who do's me in the girl's toilet's is wearing protection."

"You'd better be kidding."

"About the protection? Of course not. Dad, that's just irresponsible. You raised me better than that," Ada said innocently.

He yelled after her as she darted off to catch up with Greg and Andre, "Ada! Tell me you're kidding!"

She just threw a smile over her shoulder, pushing in between Greg and Andre as they walked. She nudged them with her elbows, "You're lucky you didn't agree. At least now, you get to keep your eyes."

She didn't see her dad grab Keithie, beginning with, "Keithie, my man, I need you to do some recon for me…" and ending with Keithie agreeing, "Okay."

**Hey guys, thanks so much for reading!**

**I'm not one of those authors who hold chapters for ransom, I'd just love it if you could leave me a review!**

**So, here are the replies from the last chapter. Thanks so much you guys!**

**Koryandrs: **Thanks so much for being my first reviewer! It means a lot to me! I'm so stoked you thought the first chapter looked good, and that you're interested in reading more. A lot of this story will be dialogue, I think, so hopefully that doesn't get too irritating! Thanks again :D I hope you enjoyed this latest update.

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	3. The New Kid

The Fine Line

CHAPTER THREE: The New Kid

…

"Alright little birds, find your nests, man," Mr. Folan called.

He was their hippie teacher, and always seemed to have a smile on his face, his voice never raising an octave above a calming, soothing tone. Just about everything he said was accompanied by a 'man' tacked onto the end. He was their English teacher, and despite Ada's initial skepticism about his ability to teach the subject in between the time he spent with his weed, he had actually exceeded her expectations.

He was probably the most competent English teacher she'd ever had.

It was probably the second lesson with him as their teacher that she realized he really knew his stuff, and that she had been unfairly harsh – she had no idea if he had weed or not. She had judged him, and then felt guilty about it. But that was back at the beginning of the year, and a lot of time had passed since then.

"Float down, there we go, and we're in."

There were the odd moments where it was pretty obvious he was a hippie. Like his sayings. And his ridiculously mellow voice. Seriously. It was mellow.

It was also nice that he didn't get angry. He believed the learning experience should not be a stressful one, so he was always willing to negotiate when assessments were due if there were extenuating circumstances. If she was stressed, Ada was more likely to suffer through it then approach someone; she didn't like people thinking she couldn't handle it. But Mr. Folan was extremely approachable.

"Alright, guys, normally we don't have exciting news this late into the term, but, we have a new student joining us today." Mr. Folan's voice called her back to the present, and she shook herself slightly, having been all caught up in her own thoughts. She looked to her left to see Greg, in his usual seat beside the window, and Andre in the one behind him. She pulled a face at them, at how seriously Greg was paying attention, and how Andre was obviously not.

Ada was one of those kids who barely studied and always seemed to breeze through everything and still get great marks. Yeah. Those annoying kids, who didn't have to do much to do well; she was one of them. That's not to say she didn't study. She did. And she could pay a lot of attention, if she wanted to. She always seemed to be the one who remembered stuff their teachers said, when Greg and Andre had no idea.

Greg had to work harder. He was more creatively incline, which meant logic was harder for him to employ. Give him a short story as an assignment, and he'd do amazingly well. Give him an essay, and he had to work much harder. Ada loved essays. It's what made them so good; they were an unstoppable tag-team. Ada liked to think that, together, they could conquer the world.

Okay. Maybe that was going a bit far. But they did work well together, when they weren't clashing and butting heads. That would be where Andre came in handy; to stop them from killing each other. And for a laugh. And really, just because Ada couldn't imagine anything in her life not including him.

Behind Ada was Simon, a skinny kid, with bright orange hair, glasses and a ton of freckles. Needless to say, he was a regular target for bullies, so Ada had encouraged him to sit behind her.

Ada liked to think of herself as a shield for him. She really didn't have a problem with confrontation. At least, not entirely. If sticking up for others involved confrontation, then it didn't bother her. And it bugged her, the way people could be so mean. High school was hard enough.

Paper was flicked at Simon from across the room. Ada looked over to find Ryan, the only jock in this class, doing the flicking. Shocker. At least, when they'd first moved to this town ten months ago, it was a relief to find out that this school operated on the same social stereotypes as her old one. She didn't have to adapt or change her behaviour, because it was exactly the same. The jocks and cheerleaders were the popular ones, and they pretty much picked on anyone who wouldn't or couldn't defend themselves, or who didn't fit with the social norms they created. Ada didn't understand why Ryan couldn't just leave Simon alone. There was no one here to impress, and none of his friends were here for him to make laugh.

Quite frankly, it was a waste of paper.

She raised an eyebrow at Ryan, and he winked at her. He was attractive, in a pretty-boy way. Blonde hair, purposefully mused to create a messy look, blue eyes that could just look into your soul, and a growth of stubble that made him appear more manly. Too bad he was such a dick. She rolled her eyes at his wink, before picking up the piece of scrunched up paper on Simon's desk and making a 'you're pathetic' face. Ryan pointed at the paper, then at Ada, before miming unfolding the paper.

He did it again when Ada just looked at him apprehensively. Reluctantly, she unfolded it.

_What's your number?_

She raised an eyebrow at Ryan, who winked again. Ada wasn't all that interested in meatheads. Especially ones who liked embarrassing, humiliating, and/or making fun of other people. She didn't find it attractive, at all. And Ada had been at this school long enough to know that Ryan wasn't the kind of guy looking for a commitment relationship. He'd had plenty of hook-ups, and there wasn't exactly a shortage of girls who would love, if only for a couple hours, to date him. To kiss him. To let him do what he wanted. It wouldn't go down too well with his girlfriend, Heather, if Ada gave him her number. It was well known that Ryan wasn't a one-woman kind of guy, but for the purposes of appearances, Ryan and Heather were an item.

Ada shook her head at him.

"Braden Higgins."

The name made her spin her head back around to the front, because it was unfamiliar. She couldn't believe she'd missed the guy standing at the front, obviously new to the school. She could get so focused on her own thoughts that she didn't notice other stuff going on around her. Like, for example, the arrival of the new kid.

Jesus, he was tall. And buffed, his shoulders were broad and his arms were surprisingly well muscled for a sixteen year old. But when she took in his unkempt, longish blonde hair, and the number of tattoos he had running over his arms, she figured he was some kind of thug. Rough and tough. The kind that carried a pocket knife. Maybe in his pants pocket, or maybe in his large boots. His flannel plaid shirt had the sleeves ripped off them, and his pants were tattered, his boots worn.

He just stood there, his face indifferent. Mr. Folan pointed to the other side of the room, "Hey, there's an empty seat over there, man, why don't you go pop a squat?"

Braden didn't even look in the direction Mr. Folan pointed to. Instead, his eyes focused in on Simon, and he slowly walked down the aisle between Ada and Greg, coming to a stop in front of Simon. Ada spun around in her seat, trying to catch his eye to tell him to _stay strong._ Braden couldn't forcibly remove him from the chair, so if he just continued to sit there, and not give in, there wasn't anything else he could do.

She groaned when Simon pulled out his wallet and held it out to the new kid. She wanted to slap herself on the head. No, she wanted to slap Simon on the head. It wasn't like he was making it difficult for people to pick on him.

If she was a shield, she was one of those flimsy plastic ones kids played with.

"No," Braden shook his head, saying low and slow. "This is where I sit."

Simon scrambled up, and Ada shook her head, "Simon!"

He didn't look at her as he went to the empty seat on the other side of the room. Ada sighed, spinning back around in her seat to face the front. The new kid was a jerk. How was it that they all just sussed out the weakest link, the one easiest to push around, and then picked on them? It was just so frustrating that Simon wouldn't listen to her. In the corner of her eye, she could see Greg lean towards Braden, to speak to him.

"Is your dad Marcus Higgins?"

Ada's jaw dropped, her eyebrows shooting into her hairline. Higgins. _Higgins_. No way. No way could _Marcus_ have a kid! He was the least paternal guy she knew. But besides that, they looked nothing alike. Braden was massive. Muscled. Attractive. Marcus was kind of small, and a bit of a wimp, though it didn't stop him from being a ladies man. They had no similar…the hair. Oh, my god, the hair was the same.

No way.

"Yeah, I've known him since I was a baby, he's the funniest," Andre added.

Ada winced. How was it guys were so tactless? They'd never heard of Higgins having a kid, which meant he himself couldn't have known. Which meant Braden hadn't seen his dad in the last sixteen years. It was likely a sensitive topic for him. This was why she was the one less likely to be beat up in their group. She didn't put herself in awkward situations with potentially volatile, much bigger opponents where she would then proceed to press all the right buttons to earn her an ass whooping.

But Ada didn't turn around, not even to get them to shut it about Marcus Higgins. She wasn't their keeper, they could handle themselves. For once though, it wasn't her who got them in a mess they had to dig their way clear of. And she was still irritated about the whole Simon thing. People just automatically assumed they could push him around, and Simon just let them. It was ridiculous, and she was beginning to wonder why she even bothered in the first place. But her irritation was slowly wearing off and being replaced by curiosity.

She _was_ curious about Braden Higgins.

"The best. Great, great man," Greg said. Ada snorted back a laugh. 'Great' was an overstatement, and she figured they were just trying to get Braden to like them by praising his dad. This was why they needed to leave the talking up to Ada. How many times had she told them that? Too many to count. And how many times had they listened? Only the times they needed someone to talk them out of trouble they'd got into.

"I wanna smash his face," Braden told them, his voice low and serious.

"Yeah, me too," Andre said quickly, and Ada had to hold back a laugh.

"Yeah, hate that guy," Greg added.

"Screw him," Andre said, turning back to face the front.

Ada laughed this time. What was with all the guys she knew suddenly becoming pansies? "Way to go, guys," she muttered sarcastically, and Greg glared at her to shut up.

"Who's the babe?" Braden asked, and Ada turned around so she could see where he was looking and answer his question. She figured Braden had daddy issues, so she was a little more willing to cut him some slack with the bully-Simon-out-of-his-chair thing. And he was Marcus' kid. She'd be seeing him a fair bit, she assumed, so she may as well _try_ to get along with him. But when she turned around, she realized he was looking right at her.

"Excuse me?" Ada asked.

"What's your name, gorgeous?"

She gaped at him like a fish, fire burning in her eyes. He caught her off guard; he was the first person to brazenly speak to her like that. But he obviously didn't have issues with confidence. Or getting the girls he wanted. She figured that was another thing he had in common with his dad.

Ada could hear Greg mutter an, "Oh no," as she narrowed her eyes at Braden. He just leant back in his chair, not caring that her venomous gaze was directed at him.

She pointed at Braden, "That right there is what's wrong with society. The qualities women are supposed to embody, like beauty and passivity, to meet the cultural ideals of femininity are what contributes to our victimization. By using words that describe a woman's appearance before you know anything else about her is what contributes to the media's portrayal of women; as subservient to men and objects of their sexual desires. It says our appearance is what's important, and our independent endeavours are nonsensical and irrelevant."

Yes. They had just spent a whole four weeks on the media portrayals, so it was all fresh in her mind. And she wanted to knock this overconfident guy down a few notches. It pissed her off, the way he'd smiled like he expected her to turn to putty in his hands. She had more self-respect than that. It was why she didn't give Ryan her number. It was why she didn't have a problem telling a guy off for being lecherous, or rude, or just plain disgusting with innuendo.

She didn't realize she'd gotten louder, the whole class turned towards her, listening to her outburst. Ada's face reddened, and she sank down in her chair, turning away from Braden. Yeah, she didn't have that much of a problem sticking up for herself, but that didn't mean she wanted the whole class to watch her do it.

"Very good," Mr. Folan said, nodding, and completely ignoring the fact that she'd just yelled at another student. She figured it had to do with his whole 'free expression' thing. "What an insightful way to sum up our topic on gender studies in the media. Now, who…"

"Do you always overreact, princess?" His voice was right beside her ear, and she jumped slightly when his warm breath tickled her ear. She spun around in her to glare at him.

"What did you just call me?" Her voice carried an undercurrent of a threat. She'd heard him. She was hoping the clear warning in her tone would make him back down, though.

He shrugged, "A princess."

Obviously not.

"I _am not_ a princess!" She hissed.

"Oh, sure," he nodded, before moving back into his casual, uncaring position where his body was draped over the too-small chair. His tone very clearly said he was patronizing her.

He was a thug. A jerk. He might not be entirely bright or articulate, but he knew how to piss someone off. It was probably a gift, to be able to figure out their weaknesses and irritations, and then use them against that person.

"And what are you supposed to be?" She snapped at him. "A lumberjack?"

He snorted a laugh. "Let me guess. You live in a big house. Have lots of money, lots of clothes and shoes and whatever else girls like. You've probably never had to work a day in your life to buy those things."

"_I'm sorry_," she exaggerated, making it clear that she was not, in fact, sorry. "Is that a _crime_? And you're one to talk about jobs; you probably steal everything you want. No, Braden Higgins doesn't need to pay for anything. He doesn't owe anyone anything. You're a criminal."

"You're a spoilt, little, know-it-all rich girl."

"You don't know anything about me," she snarled at him. Her jaw clenched and she spun around in her seat, glaring at the board at the front of the room.

What a dick.

What an absolute dick.

She fumed all the way through the lesson. When the bell rang for their next class, she jumped up, trying to get away from the eyes on the back of her head.

"Miss Feder?" Mr. Folan called her back into the room. He smiled at her. "Braden needs someone to show him around the school, and I told him you're my best student. Seeing as you've already met, I'd hoped you wouldn't have a problem with it?"

Ada glanced over at the boy in question. He leant against the wall next to the door, uncaringly. His blonde hair covered the sides of his face, and Ada thought that if he just cut it, he'd look really different.

But that was beside the point. She didn't want to show the jerk around. If Mr. Folan was under the impression they'd met, how could he also not be aware that she did not like him, in the least, given the circumstances of their meeting? It made no sense. And she didn't want her last day of school to be ruined by the giant lumberjack. She was already feeling less confident about her summer plans now, as well, if Braden was sticking around for that long. She could just see him now, defying her ideas at every turn, pissing her off.

Mr. Folan lowered his voice so Braden wouldn't hear, "I need someone I trust to watch over him. Make sure he stays out of trouble. It's only one day, it shouldn't be too hard."

So he did see Braden as a thug, after all. Ada was beginning to wonder, considering he was always so mellow and open and un-judging. But he played the part of a thug very well. They both looked at Braden. He didn't seem bothered by their mutual gaze at all. In fact, he didn't even acknowledge them, just waiting patiently. Ugh, he probably figured she'd cave. He probably figured she would do what the teacher asked.

Personally, Ada thought Mr. Folan was seriously underestimating Braden Higgins. It may be only one day, but that was about five hours of possibilities. Five hours to get himself suspended, or in detention. She thought he wouldn't even consider it a difficulty.

She knew as soon as she said it, that she'd regret it, "Sure."

She hated that he was right, though. She hated that he expected her to do it. She hated that he had her pegged.

She walked towards Braden slowly. And yep, she was already feeling the regret. Was it too late to take it back?

She sighed when she stopped in front of her.

"Where to, princess?" He asked, smirking.

Today was going to be a long day.

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**Replies:**

**Spyro Flavored Skittles: **Right? I loved the movie! It was so silly, but so funny at the same time! As soon as I watched the movie, I went searching on here too! Haha, but none were really what I wanted to read specifically (I can be really picky!), so I decided to just write it myself! Thank you so much for taking the time to review this for me! It means so much, and I'm so stoked that you're loving my story so far and seem interested in reading more! Thanks so much!

**XxCherryblossomxX33: **Hi! Thanks so much for taking the time to review this for me! It seriously means a lot to me! I'm so glad you like it so far, and seem interested in reading more! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Braden finally came into it, so I can go somewhere with their love/hate line thing! And, by the way, I really like your pen name! Cherry blossoms are so beautiful!

**Koryandrs: **Haha, I haven't, actually! I don't know why I felt the need to say that about the dialogue! But when I get into my own stuff (not the stuff that happens in the movie), then there'll definitely be more description happening! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And thanks for reviewing my other stories as well; my 'The Soldier of War and the Daughter of Peace', 'I Will Write Our Story in the Stars', 'Ask Your Heart What It Doth Know', and 'I'd Do Anything For You' stories! Seriously, I come across reviews from the same person for different stories of mine, and it's a major compliment to me, so thank so much for taking the time to check out my other stories, and review them as well!

**Nobody13: **Aw, thank you so much! I'm so glad you think my story is awesome (though I don't know if I'd go that far!), and that you seem interested in reading more! Thanks for taking the time to leave a nice review like that! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter too :D

**Guest: **Haha, TTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAANNNNNNNKKKKKKK YYYYYYOOOOOOUUUUUU! Seriously, thanks so much! I'm so stoked you seem so, crazy enthusiastic to read more, so I really hope you enjoyed this chapter too! Thanks for leaving a review; it made me grin!

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**CharmedOpal: **Thanks so much! I'm so stoked you like it and want me to continue it! If it means you're interested in reading it, I definitely will! Thank you so much for leaving a review for me! Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter! And by the way, I love your profile picture of Dean :D

**Kala-Warrior18: **Wow, thank you so much for leaving such an awesome review! It means so much to me, and you made my day when I read it! So thanks for that :D. That's probably the biggest compliment that someone could give me; that they can see my OC as someone who could actually be in the movie/book/TV Show (etc), so I'm just so crazy happy you think Ada could have been in the movie! Yeah, I wanted her to have some of her mother and father; so I went with Roxanne's looks, because it would be fun to see Lenny overprotective of his daughter, especially if she attracts attention from guys, but I also love Lenny's humour, and I figure, in that family, she has to have a funny bone, you know? Haha, I don't anyone really knows what it is; but when you see it, you know, haha! Thank you so much! I'm glad you think the characters interact well, and that you seem interested in reading more! Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too! Personally, I pronounce it "A-duh", but go with whatever you like :D

**Gryffindor4eva: **Thank you! :D I'm so glad you think it's 'amazing', haha! I probably wouldn't go that far, but I just love that you seem to think so! I hope you liked this newest chapter! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a nice review! :D

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**Candyluver2121: **Aw, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so stoked you love it that much. Haha! And my OC! I'm really glad you wanted to read the next update! I know, I didn't exactly update really quickly, but I really hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway! Thanks so much for taking the time to review for me! It means a lot!


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